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Colorado Faculty Respond to Trump Appearance

The following is the text of a letter signed by 114 members of the faculty at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs in response to a campaign appearance at the university by Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

July 28, 2016

Dear Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak,

With the pending visit of the Republican nominee for President, Donald J. Trump, to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs on Friday July 29, 2016, the signers of this letter, as faculty of UCCS, feel the need to offer a public response to Mr. Trump’s presence on our campus. This letter does not claim to represent all UCCS faculty or the university, only the individuals who have endorsed its message.

To be clear, UCCS is a public university and, as such, it is an institution that reveres free speech. As university faculty, we not only recognize Mr. Trump’s legal right to speak on our campus, but also embrace the productive dialogue about U.S. and global politics that the event will no doubt inspire. But we as faculty similarly have the right and obligation to express our own professional consciences, especially as it pertains to events occurring at our place of work.

While we recognize Mr. Trump’s right to speak at UCCS and at other public venues, we strongly condemn the content and tone of much of the rhetoric that Mr. Trump has used since announcing his bid for Presidency.

Our issues with Mr. Trump are twofold. First, Mr. Trump has repeatedly made public statements that are either not supported by any reasonable amount of empirical evidence or are reliant on selective samples. For instance, Mr. Trump has repeatedly stated that crime in the United States is rising and that we live in a society that is growing more dangerous. A preponderance of evidence at the nationwide level contradicts that claim; but more importantly, Trump then uses such specious reasoning to fuel fear of certain minority groups.

Second, Mr. Trump’s unsubstantiated statements have been used to impugn entire groups of people, including Muslims, Mexicans, women, and disabled people. We contend that his divisive language prevents the kind of civil discourse that is the life blood of a democratic society. Mr. Trump’s claim that the majority of immigrants from Mexico are criminals, including murderers and rapists, is contradicted by documented evidence. Similarly, Mr. Trump’s call for the use of torture would contravene the United Nations Convention against Torture.

Likewise, UCCS’ stance on diversity and inclusiveness states that we “must be inclusive of everyone” in order to combat “legacies of advantage and disadvantage,” which accords with Article 10 of the University of Colorado’s nondiscrimination policy. We honor the spirit of former CU president George Norlin, who took a courageous stand against racial and religious discrimination based on ideals that our university continues to uphold.

We censure any statement made by Mr. Trump (or any other person) that can be classified in these two ways. As faculty of a university that prides itself on the encouragement of free speech and the productive discourse that can follow, we reject the reckless use of language that supports silencing anyone on our campus—even as we respect the right to speak such words.

I appreciate your freedom of speech and I hope that you’ll take mine as a grain of salt and in the spirit it’s offered as I have yours. My children attended 4 year Universities and neither of them were able to find work in the field of their major, so they suffered some hard knocks, reinvented themselves and started their own business. Are they great successes? No, not hardly in this current economy, but they do earn enough to support themselves. I have found that the majority of information they acquired was more of an indoctrination of liberal theories (about how life should work according to Garp) than actual useful productive information (about the real world actually does work). Most fortunately for them, their father and I had saved since they were very small (we believed in higher education and are conservatives) and they are not saddled with any loans to pay back. To their credit they also worked while in school or during the summers. They did not attend your school and I’m sure that you are all good people.

Without border controls we fail to be a sovereign nation. We all lock our doors to prevent becoming a victim of crimes, don’t we? I believe in taking care of my own…first. America seems to have lost the ability, the desire or perhaps the moral fiber to do that. Trump may be rough around the edges for the thin skinned. He beat 16 other people running in the primary without spending a fortune on advertisements. (Brilliant) I am voting for Trump because he’s the best person for the job. He will keep us safe and actually that IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLE of the President of the United States. It is not singing KUMBAYA while we lapse into anarchy……………

This election is historical because it’s not about the Republicans against the Democrats. That divisive tool is burning in the woodstove. This election is about the people vs. the establishment. The rise of Bernie and Trump is born from the disgust Americans feel from leaving our families too long at the mercy of politicians who have been rich in promises and never deliver.

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